It is one of football’s more sopophiric banalities; that an entity – be it player, manager, or heavily indebted multi-national corporation – must ‘hold his/her’s/its hands up’ in the face of glaring error. Yet, it is a cliché, if one must be used, appropriate to Manchester United’s European performance last season. After all, Sir Alex […]

On this week’s Rant Cast we say a final goodbye to a much loved and misunderstood friend – Dimitar Berbatov – who is joining Fiorentina Juventus Fulham in a £4 million deal. Also on the show – we look back on victory over Fulham at Old Trafford. This was a ‘game of two halves’ that […]

Love Dimitar Berbatov or hate him, but if he didn’t exist somebody would have to invent him. There have been countless debates about whether Berbatov is good enough to play for United – that he is good was never a question. In the end Berbatov didn’t become the saviour some hoped him to be; just as […]

Manchester United’s activity in the transfer market is over for the summer, with the club having spent more than £40 million, rising with potential bonuses, on a quintet of new players – Robin van Persie, Shinji Kagawa, Alexander Büttner, Ángelo Henríquez and Nick Powell. At least that’s the claim made by Sir Alex Ferguson at […]

There is more than one way to win a football match, it is often said, although at Manchester United leading from an attacking front has so often been the club’s purpose. Not always in recent times though, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson turning to more pragmatic ideals when, on occasion, faced with more limited resources […]

Less than a week into the season and already there’s pressure on United to win at Old Trafford this Saturday. With Fulham in town Sir Alex Ferguson’s men will smell the scent of victory, but after defeat to Everton on Monday few points will be counted until just after five this Saturday. There’s no doubt […]

On this week’s packed Rant Cast regulars Ed and Paul look back on Manchester United’s opening day defeat at Everton – dissecting Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, tactics and the outlook for the rest of the season. We talk transfers, with United signing Robin van Persie and Alexander Büttner since last week’s show, although there is […]

“They don’t like it up ‘em!,” Lance-Corporal Jack Jones of 1970s BBC sitcom Dad’s Army fame so often declared. Yet, it wasn’t Jerry, sent packing back to Berlin after invading the home counties, but Manchester United – 19 times champion of England – that was cowed at Goodison Park on Monday night. New season, same […]

New season, new hope; and Sir Alex Ferguson has created more than a little this summer with a string of exciting, attacking purchases to bolster Manchester United’s squad. Whether the Reds soft midfield underbelly is once again exposed will be determined over the next nine months, although tThe campaign could hardly begin with a tougher […]

When Sergio Aguero struck home at Eastlands to hand Manchester City the Premier League title back in May it was the first time Sir Alex Ferguson had conceded England’s football primacy on goal difference alone. This was a turn of events that Manchester United’s 70-year-old manager promised to correct. Indeed, United’s transfer strategy this summer […]